Tundra
by MarcieMarmalade
Summary: In this Hunger Games esque story, a younger Marshall Lee falls for a human girl named Judy. But when Dante the Vampire King reveals the existence of the monster species (vampires, lycans, and fae) and starts a game with the humans, Marshall is forced to fight for Judy's life, his own life, and the lives of all others; monster and human alike.
1. Judy Fletcher

(AN: This is a Hunger Games esque story involving Marshall Lee's past. I thought it would be interesting if his version of the Mushroom War was started by a clash between vampires and humans, and I often take that idea and roll with it. This is the best product to come out of the idea. Enjoy c:

P.S: Yes, Judy is like Fionna on purpose. I think you can understand why.)

The night Marshall Lee walked through was especially cold, making him snuggle tighter into his jacket. Vampires were considerably more tolerant of cold weather then humans, but below freezing was where he drew the line. Shivering, he walked down the forest path, his only company the occasional bird. He was amused by the cloud of mist that came out when he sniffed the air, the moisture of his small breaths fogging his view for a few moments, then becoming as invisible as the rest of the air around him. He was shoving his hands down his pants to be warmer when he suddenly heard a soft crack. Turning sharply, his eyes darted around for the source of the noise. He sniffed deeply, and the sent of perfume hit his nose. He sneezed softly and started walking in the direction of the smell. He had become a vampire only weeks before, so he was a tad clumsy with hunting, but his quiet footsteps made up for it, and the snow made a good muffler. He followed until the sent was almost unbearable, his fangs starting to descend and his stomach growling. Finally he saw her. A girl that couldn't have been much older than than him was walking on a path parallel to his. He could kind of make out her features, long blonde hair and a defined nose, but couldn't see much more than that. She was bundled in a fluffy baby blue winter coat and black snow pants. Her boots crunched loudly in the snow, but she didn't seem to care. Marshall shrugged. Her loss. He quickly sped forward and grabbed her. She screamed, not even knowing what hit her, and immediately started flopping like a fish on a hook. Surprised, Marshall was about to drop her, but he slipped on a rock covered in a thin layer of ice. The two tumbled town the hill next to it, both of them screaming this time. Marshall let go of her, rolling right into a snow bank. The girl came to and abrupt stop thanks to a large root that was sticking up from the ground, but knocked her head into the tree it belonged too. Marshall sat up, shivering hard, and brushed the snow off his face and jacket. He was even more cold than before.

"THANKS A LOT, NATURE!" he cried out. Of course, no one answered. Growling and cursing, he stood up and brushed off more snow. Suddenly he remembered the girl. He turned towards her. She was laying on her stomach, a thin line of blood trickling down her forehead onto the snow below. The delicious rusty tinted smell hit Marshall like a tidal wave, and he found himself running over to where the girl laid. He took his right glove of then ran a cold finger over the line of blood, relishing it's warmth. He promptly stuck the finger in his mouth and started to suck on it. Looking around, he noted that they had landed in Pine Gorge, a popular hunting spot for the local vampires. He looked down at the girl again and rolled her over. Her chest was rising and falling gently, indicating she was still alive. He lifted up her head slightly and took a closer look at her face. Her cheeks were rosy from being in the winter weather, and her waves of hair framed her face perfectly, which had just a hint of makeup on it. Her lips were thin and had a few scabs, probably from picking at them. On her chin was an old band-aide, half peeled off from the fall. Suddenly, the girls eyes fluttered open. The vampire and human stared at each other for a for a moment. The girl finally screamed, breaking the spell, and forced herself out of his clutches, scooting backwards until she was stopped by a large evergreen. Her eyes were wide as saucers, and her mouth was agape, letting out cries that could most likely be heard miles away. Marshall plugged his ears, the sound starting to irritate his sensitive hearing. After what seemed like hours girl stopped, breathing heavily. The only sounds now were her breaths and small animals making their way around the woods.

"WHO ARE YOU!?" she yelled, tears starting to stream down her face. "WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO ME!?"

Marshall just stared.

The girl shook her head. "You can't talk, can you?" she asked. "You probably don't even know English."

"Actually, I do."

The girl screamed again.

"Oh would you stop that!?" cried Marshall. "You're going to wake up the whole state!"

"Wh-who are you?"

"My name is Marshall Lee Abadeer. What about you?"

The girl swallowed hard.

"Give me one good reason I should tell you."

Marshall scoffed.

"Give me one good reason not to rip out your jugular!"

"MY NAME'S JUDITH!" the girl yelled in fear. "Judith Fletcher. But everyone calls me Judy."

"Well _Judy_, explain to me what you're doing walking around in the dark woods at 1am?

Judy rose to her feet.

"Tell me why you're doing the same first." she said venomously.

Marshall frowned, taken aback by her sudden burst of courage and confidence.

"Hunting people like you."

"What are you, a cannibal!?"

"NO, I'm a vampire!"

Judy crossed her arms.

"No you're not, there's no. Such. Thing."

"Tell that to him."

Marshall pointed at an older, taller vampire who was coming out of the nearby trees.

Judy turned slowly, her face twisting in horror. But the vampire just stopped and and smiled, running a hand through his dark hair.

"Don't make faces like that," he said coolly. "it will give you these _little_ wrinkles."

Judy screamed for what was about the 20th time that night and fell back into the snow.

"Jeez," Alex said. "Am I really that frightening?"

He looked at Marshall, who shrugged.

"It's not like you're my mom."

The pair laughed and looked at Judy, who seemed a bit shocked.

"You two... know each other?"

"Yeah, we're pretty close." explained Alex, patting Marshall on the head. "We don't let our age difference get in the way."

"Oh... so you're more than friends, then?" teased Judy.

"NO!" the two vampires cried out.

She laughed, and Marshall noticed how pretty her smile was behind the braces that covered it. Alex leaned forward and helped her up, making her smile even wider. She seemed to forget how terrified she was before. But Alex tended to have a warm vibe. It could grace even the most emotionally desolate person and make them laugh and smile as if all their problems just disappeared.

"So you weren't about to eat her, were you?" Alex asked, raising an eyebrow.

"No, of course not!" Marshall said nervously.

"Then why did you tackle her down a hill?"

"Um... that was a friendship tackle!"

Alex narrowed his eyes, unimpressed. He then checked twice to make sure Judy was okay, and shoved Marshall towards the very bottom edge of the steep hill.

"_What the hell is wrong with you?_" Alex snarled, his entire mood changing as if with the flick of a switch. "You're a _fledgling_. You're not allowed to hunt live prey yet, especially not 13 year old girls in the woods at night."

"But my mom told me I could-"

"YOUR MOM KNOWS NOTHING ABOUT US!" Alex shouted, making Marshall jump.

He sighed, calming himself.

"Your mom is a demon. She knows nothing about vampire laws, let alone the local ones. And the number one is that fledglings are not allowed to hunt humans."

Marshall swallowed.

"That's a pretty sucky law."

"Actually, no." Alex's grip on Marshall's shoulder tightened. "It makes sure some fucking idiot doesn't leave a body out in the middle of the forest to be discovered by some jogger, and let an investigation be opened. Then some government team will come in, they'll examine evidence and become very suspicious, because they know that a body with no blood and saliva with the properties of any hematophagous animal's is not natural, considering there are none large enough to suck a human dry. Then one thing will lead to another, and BAM we'll be discovered and experimented on and protested against and attacked and most likely locked up in some kind of relocation camp. And that's the BEST case senerio."

"I wouldn't do that!"

"I know you wouldn't Marshall, but there is guaranteed to be some dumbass motherfucker who will. And that's why Dante put that law into place."

Alex stepped back.

"I hate to yell at you Marshall, but I want you to realize what an idiot you were being."

"Yes sir." Marshall said quietly.

That wasn't the first time Alex had yelled at him like that. It seemed that he got into trouble frequently, and as often as Alex would get him out of it, he would make Marshall feel guilty.

"So are you close to home?" Alex asked, turning back to Judy.

She was staring at them awkwardly, but quickly shook it off.

"Yeah, pretty close."

"Good. You should go home and forget this happened."

Judy laughed. "Who are you, the Men In Black?"

Alex shrugged. "We may as well be."

Judy smiled and stepped forward. "Well, I'm kind of interested in vampires."

"In the Buffy way or Twilight way?" Asked Alex carefully. "Either of those is highly frowned upon..."

The girl laughed in socked him in the arm. "For things at the top of the food chain, you're pretty paranoid."

"It's not like that." Marshall interjected.

Alex rolled his eyes. "Fine, young lady, if you want to know more about vampires then let Marshall walk you home."

"Why not you?" Marshall and Judy said simultaneously.

Alex raised up his hands. "I have a life? And Robbie will worry if I don't get home soon. And you know how she gets when she thinks the worst..."

Marshall shuddered, remembering the time his wife had murdered five random people because she thought Alex had been seriously hurt. "I understand."

Judy raised an eyebrow. "Okay, you have fun with that."

"Oh, I will." Alex winked, and then climbed back up the hill.

"Dammit, we'll have to climb too..." Judy grumbled.

"Is that a problem?" Marshall asked.

"Not really," The human replied. "I just HATE going up hills."

"Oh... do you want me to carry you?"

Judy shot him a look. "Are you high?"

Marshall blushed. "No, I was just-"

To his surprise, the human girl trudged up the hill with the same ease the older vampire had, although she was cursing under her breath the whole way up.

Marshall frowned and climbed up himself, realizing why Judy had been complaining. It was really strenuous on his legs. Finally, he reached the top, only to see her gone.

"Judy?!" Marshall called, straining his neck looking around. He finally spotted the girl farther down the path, completely ignoring him.

Marshall rolled his eyes and ran over. "Hey, I thought you wanted to talk to vampires."

"Yeah, I meant the hotter older one." She smiled and rolled her eyes as if this were common knowledge.

"Oh..." Said Marshall, slowing down a bit.

"Dude, I was just kidding! Yeesh."

Marshall sighed. Great, she was a teaser, just like Robin. And he had a hard enough time taking Robin's jokes...

The two continued to travel however, making small talk and telling stupid jokes. Marshall loved the fact that she was into puns, and her random bursts of energy where she would run down hills or karate chop trees made him start to like her even more. Still, a hint of apprehension ate at him. She was a human, and he was a vampire. Mortal and monster, predator and prey. He really shouldn't have been hanging out with her in the first place, let alone like it. But his newborn fondness of her prevailed, and he followed her all the way home like a lost puppy. She lived in a town the woods bordered, and he saw how easy it was for her to sneak out. There was a climbable tree right next to her bedroom window.

"Thanks for keeping me company." She said, smiling. "Oh... and not eating me."  
Marshall chuckled. "You're welcome, I guess... but you got me in a lot of trouble."  
"OOOOOHHHH, A HOT VAMPIRE, HOW TERRIFYING!" Judy said, cringing in mock-horror.

Marshall frowned. "You don't know him like I do."

Judy sighed, another one of her jokes not taken well. "Whatever. I'll see you tomorrow."

"...What do you mean?"

"...I mean I'll see you tomorrow... dude, I know you're naive. Don't tell me you're a dumbass too."

"No, it's just... I don't really hang out with humans. It's a weird segregation thing, of sorts."

Judy frowned. "Well, that explains a lot. Ignore it, though. I like to hang out with ya, Marshy."

Her goodbye was kicking snow into his face while she made her way up to her window.

Over the next few weeks, Marshall and Judy became close. He admired her adventurous streak and overall personality, and she seemed to admire his musical talent and sense of humor. Marshall's monster friends would tease him, because a vampire hanging out with a human was extremely taboo. But Marshall made it very clear that he didn't care.


	2. The Vampire Council

"You're home early." Marshall's mother Helen remarked as he entered the house one Saturday evening.

Marshall shrugged. "Judy had to go somewhere with her sister."

"Why didn't you come?"

"It was a family thing, I guess."

Helen nodded and popped a tray of food into the microwave.

"Oh, I've been meaning to tell you," she said as she threw the box her dinner came in into the garbage. "There's this meeting tomorrow night that I think you'd be _undying_ do go to. Get it? Because you're already dead?"

"Yeah, that's really funny mom." Marshall gave a weak smile but was internally beating his head against the wall. "What kind of meeting?"

"A Vampire Council meeting." His mom winked.

Marshall gasped.

"REALLY!? DO YOU THINK I'D BE ABLE TO GO TO ONE!?"

"Sure, why the hell not? I mean you _are_ a vampire. And you do have connections."

Marshall smiled. "Yeah!"

"Maybe if you could convince Al and Rob to take you with them, you could get a first hand look at vampire politics!"

The microwave beeped and Helen took her food out with a smirk.

"Just be sure to ask nicely. You know that Alex is not one to budge."

"Right!" Marshall smiled, already nearly bursting with excitement.

"Good. You can go to their house tomorrow morning.

"Thanks mom!" Marshall wrapped his arms around her, which surprised them both. Helen switched her tray to another hand and patted her son's back.

"You're always welcome my little monster." She pulled away. "Now go take a shower, you really smell like dog buns."

"MOOOOOOMMM!" Marshall cried.

"What?" she smiled. "I was just really cool and now I have to make up for it by being your mom again. So you. Shower. Now."

"Yes, ma'am."

The next morning Marshall quickly jumped out of bed and got ready, despite the fact that he had barely slept. He only got in about an hour; being nocturnal and pee-your-pants excited isn't a good combination for sleep.

He ran down to the kitchen, grabbing a piece of toast with jam (that his mom had been making for herself), kissed her on the cheek, then darted outside. He stuck the bread in his mouth and hopped on his skateboard, making his way down the wooded path at what seemed to him like super sonic speed. He reached the small house that belonged to Alex and his wife in no time. He jumped onto the porch and rang the doorbell.

"I have a knife you know." He heard a feminine voice say from the kitchen. "I'm pretty much surrounded by them."

"Robin it's me, Marshall Lee!"

The pretty redhead opened the door with a snort.

"Well why didn't you just say so! Come on in."

The kitchen smelled like eggs and bacon, which made Marshall's mouth water. He sat down at the table.

"What brings you here so early?" asked Robin, taking a seat next to him.

"Well... my mom told me there was a Vampire Council meeting tonight."

"And?"

"I was wondering if I could come."

Robin laughed out loud.

"Marshall, you're a fledgling!"

"Hey, you were one once too!"

"Yeah, when I was like, five!"

Robin chuckled and stood up, going back to making breakfast.

"PLEASE Rob?" Marshall asked with pleading eyes. "I really wanna get a chance to see how my government is run!"

Robin turned to him with a raised eyebrow. "Well, that's something I never would've imagined you'd say."

"So can I come?"  
Marshall gave the puppy dog eyes, and Robin relented. "Oy, fine. But only if Alex says it's okay."

At that moment, Alex came down, his dark eyes staring at the floor and his slim frame slightly slouched over from exhaustion. But he seemed to perk up when he saw Robin and Marshall.

"Speak of the Devil." she mused as he kissed her cheek.

"Well we all have to wake up _sometime._" he yawned, looking in the fridge for something to eat.

"Oh sit down, I'm making bacon and eggs!"

She ushered him towards a spot at the table across from Marshall and laid a plate of scrambled eggs in front of him.

"Besides, Marshy has a question for you." she winked.

"What is it this time, kid?"

Marshall swallowed hard.

"I was... I was wondering if... I could come to the Vampire Council meeting with you and Robin tonight." he spit out the last part of the sentence fast.

Alex nearly choked on his food.

"And what possessed you to think that you could!?"

"Ally..." Robin sighed.

"I just wanted to see what happens, ya know, first hand." Marshall explained.

Alex looked towards his wife.

"What are you looking at me for!?" she exclaimed. "Do whatever feels right. I personally don't see the harm."

Alex frowned thoughtfully then sighed.

"Alright. You can come-"

"YES!"

"-But you have to do whatever me and Robin say when we say it. Dealing with Dante is risky business. And contrary to popular belief, I don't want to see you get beheaded."

"Yes sir. Now can I have some bacon?"

Robin put her hands on her hips.

"You come into my house, then you want me to _feed_ you!?"

"Okay I just-"

"I'm only kidding!" she laughed. "Here ya go!"

She handed Marshall his plate of food before sitting down with her own.

Marshall was even more excited then before. He was a fledgling that was going to get a chance to be among the greats. A fledgling who was going to meet Dante, the practical Vampire King.

Though he had heard stories of Dante's ruthless ways, Marshall wasn't too nervous when he came up to the large building that housed council meetings with Robin and Alex. He figured that Dante had to be a pretty decent guy, considering that you had to be good to your subjects to be a King.

_I mean, that's what history's all about, right?_ He thought. _Kings being kind to their people._

Whether it was out of childish assumptions or the fact that he always fell asleep in history class, this is what Marshall believed.

Alex, on the other hand, wasn't so happy to fall for such naive things. He knew how evil Dante was. He could see it in the man's eyes. If you looked hard enough into them, you could see that his heart was just as icy as his gaze.

The only kind thing Dante had ever done, as far as Alex knew, was offer to save him from a life of torment and abuse by turning him into a vampire. Alex was quick to jump on the opportunity. He was in physical and emotional pain, and still kind of was whenever he reflected back on those times. He couldn't even tell Robin, a woman who he loved and trusted, all the things he had gone through when he was a human child. But Dante had rescued him, making a pact. If he turned Alex into a vampire and set him free, Alex would have to be his eternal servant. Now of course his job wasn't as dramatic as it sounded, he was more of a vice president to Dante than a slave. But he still kept a wary eye on his behavior, because one slip and he could end up like the dozens of monsters (and occasional human) Dante tortured and killed every day.

Marshall nearly locked up when they walked into the great hall. It was even more beautiful than he had heard it described. It was made completely of black marble, silvery-white speckles scattered throughout it. There were flags along the walls, each representing a different race of monsters. But the flag pinned across the entire ceiling was the vampire flag, blood red with a black star in the middle. Marshall had to resist the urge to strut across the red carpet like a movie star making their way into a premiere.

But the icing on the cake was the statues and other artworks of famous vampires, the biggest, most magnificent one being an oil painting of Dante that was perched over the great oak doors that led to the council room. Marshall looked over at his companions. Alex was un-phased by the hall, for he walked through it everyday. Though Robin seemed to be admiring all the delicate details and carvings, blue eyes shining.

"Welcome my friends!"

He heard a booming voice say.

It was Dante, who was standing in the doorway of the council room. He was very tall, with long black hair and ice blue eyes that Marshall immediately felt judging him. He was wearing a suit worthy of a modern day Dracula, and Marshall felt his normal tuxedo shrivel in comparison.

"Good evening, Dante." Alex greeted, giving a nod of acknowledgement.

"Good evening, Mr. Blair." Dante smiled. "And I see you've brought your lovely wife."

He kissed her hand.

"Good evening." Robin smiled, covering up her vibe of discomfort.

"I must say I love your dress. That aqua color matches your eyes perfectly. And it really does complement your figure."

"Thank you, your excellency."

Alex, trying to resist the urge to strangle his boss, motioned towards Marshall.

"Why don't you meet Marshall Lee Abadeer? He's very excited to be here."

"Really now?"

Marshall nodded, and Alex squeezed his shoulder.

"I mean uh yes, your excellency."

Marshall gave a slight bow.

"Marvelous. Oh and Marshall, I do love your suit."

"Oh, it's really not much!" Marshall chuckled.

"Right." Dante frowned and walked into the banquet hall, followed by Alex, who was shooting his wife a look.

She immediately understood and turned towards Marshall.

"What in the living fuck was that!?" she said, dropping her noble demeanor.

"What was what?" Marshall asked.

Robin rolled her eyes.

"You don't just say 'OH IT'S NOT MUCH, DERRRRRP' to Dante when he compliments you. You say thank you!"

"How come?"

"Because for one, he's pretty much _royalty_. And two, if he even feels the slightest amount of disrespect he'll pull off your head! Or more likely have someone do it for him. The only reason he didn't kill you on the spot is because you're new, and he's cutting you some rare slack."

"Oh, I see... is that why you didn't punch him when he was talking about your dress?"

"Yes, exactly. Now come on, the meeting's about to start."

Marshall plopped down into a large wooden chair that made him feel more like he was at a business meeting rather than one for what was pretty much the vampire government.

He looked to his left just in time to see a gorgeous blonde vampire in a silver dress sit down next to him. They made eye contact. He smiled, but the blonde snorted and turned her attention to where Dante would be sitting in a minute. Marshall sighed and looked back to Robin, who was busying herself by picking excess nail polish off of her cuticles.

"All arise for his excellency, Dante."

All the vampires stood. Marshall looked at the blonde again.

"What are _you_ looking at?" she hissed coldly.

Marshall swallowed and quickly looked to Robin, who flashed him a smile.

"Just ignore her," she whispered. "Regina can be a bit bitchy."

"Thank you, you may all sit down."

Dante's voice boomed.

All the vampires sat, and Marshall had to resist the urge to plop down the way he was used to. Instead, he copied the slow and postured way the vampire across from him was sitting.

"Are there any questions before we start?" he heard Alex ask.

"If I may." said the blonde vampress Regina.

"Go right ahead." said Dante, waving his hand.

"Yes, and my apologies, but I must ask- who brought their child?"

Marshall was about to laugh with the other vampires (he figured that it was some kind of inside joke) but then he realized that the blonde was referring to _him_.

"Excuse me, but I'll have you know that Marshall is very mature for his age!" snarled Robin.

Marshall knew that was a lie. He was already fighting the urge to yell "cat fight", grab popcorn, and watch Rob and the other vampress go at it.

"Well is he your son then?" laughed a male vampire with a British accent.

Robin hissed.

"I have no kids, and even if I did they wouldn't be his age. I'm only 30!"

"Bitch please, you look old enough to be Sabrina." remarked a small brunette vampress across from them.

"Colette, how dare you!" Laughed Robin.

Sabrina simply scoffed in response.

Now the table was erupted in an argument that wasn't really an argument. It sounded more like friends going at each other with insults they didn't really mean.

The vampires were showing their true nature; playful, fun, and exciting, not elegant, stony, and no-nonsense.

"SILENCE!" Dante's voice boomed.

Even the taller vampires seemed to shrink a few sizes into their seats, and the room became dead silent.

Dante didn't acknowledge his council's obedience, he simply glared at Marshall and Robin.

Alex mumbled a thank you on his behalf.

After another minute or so of complete silence, Dante spoke up again, making all of the vampires jump.

"Now not all of you know that plan for tonight, not even you Alexander."

Alex raised an eyebrow.

"That's because I wanted to keep this top secret since, well, we're not voting on it."

The councilmen and women glanced at each other in shock, but didn't dare to make a sound.

Robin shot a desperate look at Alex, who shrugged and mouthed "it's okay".

"For you see," Dante continued "this is an issue I've already made up my mind on."

"Well what is it then?" the British vampire asked with a hint of fear in his voice.

"I'm glad you asked, Mr. Waters." smirked Dante. "You see, we vampires are a race with low numbers. We barely outnumber bald eagles. There used to be millions of us, until the humans came along. You used to be able to live thousands of years. Now the world's oldest vampire is my dear father, and he's only 6 centuries! It's humans that have forced us into hiding, into shame, into suffering, who have killed us until they stopped believing, but every once in a while some brave bastard goes at it. Sometimes they win, sometimes they loose. But I have realized after some thinking that us, let alone other monsters, are... endangered. We may be immortal, but there are some ways to kill us..."

"As you demonstrate everyday, you hypocritical ass." Marshall heard Robin hiss under her breath.

Colette, who had also heard the comment, nodded her approval.

"But you know we need to have a way to assert our dominance. Which is why, in a pact with the head of the werewolf's and other councils, I have decided that we reveal our existence!"

Now vampires were mumbling to each other, their faces filled with shock.

"We, together, ALL of the races, will fight to dominate humans! We will separate them, burn their cities, take their lives, and claim the world back as ours, as it should be!"

By now, he was standing up with his arms reaching up to the sky, yelling as if he was giving a speech to thousands of people instead of just 15.

"He's finally gone mad!" Sabrina cried.

"He's just killed us all!" snarled a crotchety vampire with one eye.

"Bitches be trippin'!" yelled out a large Siberian vampire.

Realizing what a stir he'd caused, Dante yelled for silence. After a a few moments of deathly quiet, he continued.

"However, I'm going to need to assert my authority."

"You mean _we_ are going to have to assert _ours_."

The lycan alpha Ruben stepped out of the woodwork, followed by his son Ian. Ian looked unimpressed by the whole situation, despite the groundbreaking speech. He just kept messing around with his iPhone.

"Oh, yes! Ruben. Nice to, ahem, see you."

Marshall almost laughed. The great and powerful Vampire King was intimidated by a lycan!

"We are going to be taking over." smiled Ruben.

Dante shook his head. "We _vampires_ are going to dominate, because I have a brilliant plan!"

"Uh oh..." Muttered Robin.

"And what exactly is that plan?" Ruben asked, looking skeptical.

"I shall take over, and show my power buy taking 12 human families from 12 states and make them fight to the death!"

A wave of gasps and whispers came over the room.

Ian looked up from his text message. "Haven't I heard that somewhere before?"

"No."

Ruben frowned. "It is we wolves who shall rule, and claim the blood of the land!"

"I'm afraid that is not the case, Alpha Ruben. Now please, could you read this list of names Alex sent your son?"

Alex looked up. "Is THAT what that thing was? I thought you said it was a list of enemies you needed to destroy..."

Dante smiled. "Technically, that is true. Ruben?"

The elder lycan turned to Ian, irritated. "Son, please give me your Phone of I."

"Somebody shoot me." Ian sighed as he handed his dad the phone.

"I suppose I shall now read of the names... One, the Harpers of Wyoming. Two, the Drens of New York..."

As the lycan read off the list of the names, the vampires fidgeted in their seats. Even Regina looked genuinely worried.

"...and twelve, the Fletchers of Michigan."

Marshall's heart dropped to his stomach.

"Which Fletchers!?" he asked. Surely they couldn't be the family with Judy...

"Clarify, child." said Ruben.

"Does one of the Fletchers have the name Judith?" Marshall asked nervously.

Ruben scrolled through the list a little.

"Yes. Judith Fletcher. 13 years of age. 5 feet 3 inches in height. 130 pounds."

"But..." Marshall was distraught. "She's my friend."

Everyone in the room laughed, except for Alex and Robin who gave Marshall sympathetic gazes.

"I'm sorry, child." chuckled Dante. "She's in the games with her brother, sister, and parents."

"What are you going to do to her!?" he cried.

Dante smiled.

"It's a year in the magical land of Siberia, in the Russian tundra. Fighting against nature, the elements, and people who cross you!"

"WELL I VOLUNTEER!"

"Okay, I have **definitely** heard this somewhere..." said Ian.

"Volunteer for what, exactly?" asked Dante.

"To replace Judy in the game."

Marshall expected laughter, but he didn't hear any.

"Are you insane!?" Yelled Dante. "The game was designed to kill humans, not to let little vampires do idiotic things for the affections of a girl!"

"Well I'm gonna save her anyway." Marshall crossed his arms stubbornly.

Robin buried her head in her hands, and the other vampires were looking at Marshall as if he had grown a second head.

"Alright then." Dante chuckled. "But you'll need a team to replace her family."

"Okay. I'll have... Robin Blair, Alex Blair, my mom Helen Abadeer, and... uh..."

Marshall looked around the room, desperate for a fourth person. He stopped at the lycan Prince, who was looking at the floor, as if in deep thought.

"Maybe I read this in a book?" he mumbled.

"...Ian Humon."

"WHAT!?" The young wolf looked up in surprise, along with his Father who gave Marshall a furious glare.

Marshall immediately looked away, catching Robin's eye. She looked back at him in a twisted mixture of anger and shock. She wanted to hit him, he just knew it. He then looked at Alex, who had that dreadful expression that made him feel hated. A blank stare, with just a hint of anger and disappointment. Marshall sighed and looked back over at the vampire leader.

"So do we have a pact?" Marshall asked. "Me and the people I chose for Judy and her family?"

"...It is a pact." Dante said.

Ruben howled, as if mourning his son already. The boy seemed more confused than frightened, though.  
The vampires, on the other hand, still stared and fidgeted. Colette had leaned across the table, and was patting Robin's hand.

"Come here, you idiotically courageous child!" Dante beckoned.

Nervous, Marshall went up to the older vampire, flinching once he passed Alex. He expected the man to strike him across the back of the head, but he stood stone still. Dante lifted a pen knife from off the table, and made a long cut across his palm.

Marshall swallowed hard. "W-what are you doing, Sir?"

Dante's eyebrows shot up, but he quickly recovered.  
"Are you not familiar with old vampiric customs? Two vampires making a pact must seal it in blood!"  
He took Marshall's hand without asking for it, and dragged the blade of the knife across it. Swallowing a cry of pain, he looked Dante in the eye. The leader put down the knife, and pressed their wounds together.

"Do you promise you will not betray me, child?"

Marshall nodded, not quite sure of what he had gotten himself into anymore.

"I swear on my life."


End file.
